@Max....the guy in your video could only hover and be "pushed around" by his friends (the term "Friends" is used somewhat loosely in this context). But maybe it's like learning to ride a bicycle, or surfing, and just takes practice.

@Tom-ii: They generally used an aft-pointng fan with rudders (much like an air boat). There was a "scoop" at the lower portion of the fan which channelled air under the body to fill the skirts. Thus, a single motor/fan ran the whole kit.

Hmmm -- this sort of gives me an idea. Suppose you had a reallyt powerful leaf-blower, so lots of "umph".

Now suppose you had two small flaps mounted on the back of the board -- spring-loaded to keep them closed -- each with a string that you could use to pull them open -- and if you did pull them open they acted like small jets pushing you forward...

I'm (only) guessing, but I think you could steer the board to some extent and cause it to move by managing where you put your center of gravity.

That is, if you lean forward (for instance), the skirt to the rear will lift a bit, allowing air to escape in that direction - thus pushing you forward...

Or, as others have intoned, add another leaf blower.

At my college, there was a regular hovercar racing thing they did with hovercars built there on campus. They generally used an aft-pointng fan with rudders (much like an air boat). There was a "scoop" at the lower portion of the fan which channelled air under the body to fill the skirts. Thus, a single motor/fan ran the whole kit.

In conjunction with unveiling of EE Times’ Silicon 60 list, journalist & Silicon 60 researcher Peter Clarke hosts a conversation on startups in the electronics industry. One of Silicon Valley's great contributions to the world has been the demonstration of how the application of entrepreneurship and venture capital to electronics and semiconductor hardware can create wealth with developments in semiconductors, displays, design automation, MEMS and across the breadth of hardware developments. But in recent years concerns have been raised that traditional venture capital has turned its back on hardware-related startups in favor of software and Internet applications and services. Panelists from incubators join Peter Clarke in debate.